Divide Section

Manager: David Overby

Directions
Divide Section is located in Tishomingo and Prentiss Counties near Iuka. From the intersection of Hwy 72 and Hwy 25 in Iuka, go south on Hwy 25 4.4 miles to the Midway Community. Turn west on Hwy 364 and go 4.0 miles to the Divide Section WMA. Headquarters compound is on the right. If you have any questions regarding Divide Section call (662) 862-2723.

The Divide Section Wildlife Management Area (DSWMA) is
located in the northeast corner of Mississippi in Tishomingo and
Prentiss counties. This WMA lies on both sides of the
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (TTW) stretching from the Yellow Creek
arm of Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River, southward to Bay
Springs Lake, a 2,700 acre impoundment on the TTW. The
nearest towns to the DSWMA are Corinth and Iuka on the northern end
and Belmont and Booneville on the southern end. There are
also two state parks near the area, J.P. Coleman State Park located
north of Iuka and Tishomingo State Park located between Iuka and
Belmont. At the southern end of the WMA on the west side of
Bay Springs Lake, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) operates
a full service campground and swimming beach called Piney Grove
Campground.

The DSWMA is owned by the Corps and leased to the
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks for
wildlife management. The WMA was initially started in 1983
funded by state funds and federal aid monies. Since October,
1991, as part of the congressionally mandated mitigation for loss
of wildlife habitat due to construction of the waterway, all funds
for management have been provided by the Corps. The lands of
DSWMA are a small part of those purchased for the initial
construction of the waterway. The DSWMA encompasses some
15,300 acres with approximately 5,000 acres being disposal
areas. Disposal areas are where excavation and dredge
material generated in the waterway construction was deposited to
form a terraced rolling prairie effect. The disposal areas,
approximately 32 of them, were heavily seeded in serecia lespedeza,
weeping love grass, and fescue to control erosion and later planted
in various hardwood tree species. The remainder of the area
is in upland mixed pine/hardwood of various ages and
composition.

The disposal areas were originally forested valleys which
were cleared so that excavated material could be placed in
them. They range in size from less than 100 acres to over 600
acres and are scattered along the length of the WMA separated by
forested hills and drainage ditches. The material that was
excavated is highly erodible, acidic (low pH) and void of organic
material. There was also no native vegetation seed source in the
excavated material from which plant succession could begin.
As mentioned above, the areas were seeded in plant species that
would help control erosion but they also inhibited native
vegetation, especially woody species, from establishing. The
attempt to reforest the disposal areas in hardwoods had very little
success.

The DSWMA can be credited with initiating deer management
in extreme northeast Mississippi. When the WMA was started
(1983), there were very few deer in the area and no hunting clubs
had formed. For the first several years, the DSWMA was closed
to all deer hunting and approximately 30 adult does were stocked on
the area. During this time, the adjacent landowners and
hunters noticed more and more deer as the years passed and began to
form hunting clubs along the WMA boundaries. Deer are now
plentiful in this region to the point that antlerless harvest is a
necessity to control the population. During the years of low
deer numbers, the disposal areas were very good quail habitat and
quail was the most hunted wildlife species, but deer soon became,
and remains, the most sought after species. Wild turkey were
also void in the area until they were re-stocked in the mid
1980's. The first turkey season was opened in 1993 and the
population continues to expand.

Squirrel hunting can be productive if you don't mind
climbing the hills, however, there are many logging roads and
trails that are maintained for access. There is also some
good rabbit hunting around the disposal areas and numerous winter
food plots. Area personnel plant three public dove fields
each year. There is no fee required for the dove hunts.

The DSWMA features a 'youth and handicap only' deer
hunting area. This area is a 900 acre peninsula on the
northwest side of Bay Springs Lake. It includes over 25
winter food plots with 11 wheelchair accessible shooting houses and
good vehicular access.

Several of the disposal areas have stocked ponds.
All of the ponds that were stocked have largemouth bass and
bluegill, some also have channel catfish. A few of these
ponds are accessible seasonally by vehicle, others are walk-in
only.